633. Wedding
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“Bow to heaven and earth!”
Lin Nan instinctively followed Chen Yao and bowed.
“Second bow to the high hall.”
She turned around and, together with Chen Yao, bowed to her mother, uncle, and aunt standing right in front.
“Couple bow to each other.”
For some reason, even though it was supposed to be the most important wedding of her life, as Lin Nan bowed to Chen Yao, her mind wandered to why she was dressed in a Western wedding dress yet still had to participate in such traditional bows? It just felt weird, not quite traditional, not quite modern. Shouldn’t she be wearing something like a red qipao?
But then she remembered that most of the weddings she attended over the years were like this. She was always just a spectator, never really questioning it; her other relatives and friends looked as if this was perfectly normal.
As her thoughts drifted, Lin Nan felt her nervousness easing up.
Her head lightly bumped into Chen Yao’s, and she finally straightened up, slightly tilting her head to meet his gaze.
Chen Yao’s eyes radiated an intense love, as if the entire world only had room for Lin Nan. That look made her cheeks blush instantly.
The bowing was over, and suddenly the emcee appeared out of nowhere with two small cups of wine, exuberantly declaring, “Drink the cup of wine together!”
At that moment, the crowd erupted into cheers. The big dog instinctively wanted to shout something silly, but Lin Yuan managed to hush him just in time.
If anyone yelled something like, “Lin Nan, number one in the world!” or “Chen Yao, your mom loves you!” they would probably get flattened by a mob of the newlyweds’ relatives.
But the big dog paused for a moment before shouting, “Kiss each other!”
Lin Nan had just taken the wine cup when she heard that familiar voice. Her hand involuntarily shook, spilling some wine.
She instinctively searched for the big dog’s location, mentally calculating how to sh**t daggers at him with her eyes, but surprisingly, the cheering relatives were all chanting together.
“Kiss each other!”
“Kiss each other!”
In such a solemn wedding ceremony, why wasn’t anyone stopping this?
Lin Nan silently cursed, turning to the emcee, who showed no signs of stopping the excitement, instead smiling and nodding at her.
No way!
Her heart racing, she glanced nervously at Chen Yao, only to see him wearing a grin, even taking a step closer, his tall figure suddenly overshadowing her lower half.
She tried to back away, but he firmly wrapped his arms around her waist.
Caught off guard, Lin Nan almost yelped, but just as the sound rose in her throat, her lips were sealed shut.
She widened her eyes, staring at Chen Yao right in front of her, the crowd’s cheers becoming a roaring tide in her ears.
Up close, Chen Yao’s skin seemed to have deteriorated since a few years ago.
That thought was fleeting, quickly replaced by a heated flush creeping up to her neck and earlobes. Her face felt like it was on fire, and the intense feeling of embarrassment made her head spin.
Mother, uncle, aunt, and the class teacher were watching me kiss Chen Yao… and his tongue came in too!
Down in the audience were her university classmates from the past four years, high school classmates from three years…
Not to mention the cousins, second cousins, grandpa, and grandma…
At the wedding, Lin Nan had to suppress the overwhelming shame that felt like it was about to burst from her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing this would be over soon.
But Chen Yao was getting carried away, kissing her as if she wouldn’t be able to breathe. Her already dizzy brain surprisingly felt a flicker of excitement, and her body slowly heated up.
She subconsciously wrapped her arms around Chen Yao’s waist. Chen Yao smiled sweetly, but then he felt her hands expertly find the soft flesh at his waist, gripping it tightly before giving it a twist.
At the same time, she gently bit down on the tongue that had intruded into her mouth.
Chen Yao’s face turned bright red, then quickly darkened, and he let out a cry of pain, pulling away in shock.
Finally freed, Lin Nan ducked her head, a bit flustered, trying to cover the redness on her cheeks.
And, hey, she even managed to pull some of that tongue action.
The little wine cup in her hand was already emptied. The experienced emcee, who had seen it all, calmly took the wine cups from them and smoothly moved on from the drinking part.
With a formulaic smile, he picked up the microphone and, in a tone that was oh-so-dramatic, asked Chen Yao, “Chen Yao, do you take Lin Nan as your wife? Regardless of sickness or misfortune, will you care for her and cherish her?”
“Of course,” Chen Yao nodded, totally ready for responsibility.
“Lin Nan, do you take Chen Yao as your husband? Whether rich or poor, do you vow to stand by his side and support him in everything?”
“Um…” The blush on Lin Nan’s face showed no signs of fading.
“Please let the groom put the wedding ring on the bride!”
Chen Yao took a deep breath, pulled out a small red box from his suit pants, knelt down on one knee in front of Lin Nan, popped the box open, revealing a sparkling diamond ring inside.
Lin Nan wore the platinum necklace Chen Yao had given her back then. Her earlobes sported diamond earrings gifted by her aunt, and her hair was adorned with pearls. Now she was just missing a ring on her finger and a bracelet on her wrist.
But she wasn’t into bracelets; they felt too heavy.
“Lin Nan.”
She suddenly snapped back to reality, biting her lip as she gazed at Chen Yao, who was still kneeling. All her previous embarrassment vanished, replaced by a rapid heartbeat.
Chen Yao presented the ring box with both hands, while the emcee leaned over, holding the microphone close to his lips so the entire banquet hall could hear.
He suddenly raised his voice: “Will you marry me?!”
Lin Nan, looking down, didn’t hesitate, shyly nodded her head, extending her arm adorned with long gloves.
Chen Yao carefully slipped off the silk glove, seriously placed the ring on Lin Nan’s ring finger, and then stood up holding her hand, embracing her and kissing her forehead.
She closed her eyes, savoring the beauty of the moment, all her worries about marriage vanished completely.
Seizing the moment, the emcee rallied the crowd and started clapping. The banquet hall erupted in enthusiastic applause.
“Finally! Let’s bless this newlywed couple! May they always love one another for a lifetime, live happily ever after, and have lots of kids!”
Amid the increasingly loud applause, Lin Nan and Chen Yao held hands, following their mother, uncle, and aunt down from the stage back to the main table in the banquet hall.
Lin Nan’s cheeks were flushed with excitement, her steps lighter than ever.
But as she sat at the table, still buzzing with happiness, she turned and glanced at her mother, only now noticing that her mother’s eyes were red and streaked with tears.
“Mom, it’s a happy day.”
“I know,” her mother nodded, her voice choked with emotion.
This was the second time Lin Nan had seen her mother cry.
Lin Nan reached out, taking her mother’s hand, and for the first time in her life, she proactively picked up a piece of meat and placed it in her mother’s bowl.
Chen Yao also enthusiastically piled several pieces of meat into that bowl until it brimmed over, then beamed, “Mom, now you have another son!”
Auntie chimed in sweetly, “It’s not the old times anymore. The kids are starting their own families; we should be happy!”
Yeah, time to rejoice.
Her mother lifted her spirits, but then looking at her understanding Lin Nan beside her, couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness.
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I couldn’t sleep all night, and now I’m trying to get some shut-eye. The next chapter might not come until the early hours of the morning.
I checked it out; this mix of traditional and modern weddings is quite normal, right? I found it online, almost thought I’d misremembered from all the previous weddings I attended where I was too busy eating!
